San Francisco State University’s Queer Cinema Project (QCP), a program that encourages the production, study and promotion of queer cinema, received a $50,000 matching grant from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization that aims to advance social justice endeavors by supporting works in journalism, the arts, the environment, documentary film and more.

The funding will strengthen QCP’s mentorship program, according to one of the program’s founders, Assistant Professor of Cinema Johnny Symons. QCP received $25,000 from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation and must raise an additional $25,000 to receive an additional matching donation of $25,000. QCP is in the process of raising the rest of the needed money.

Persis Karim thinks about food a lot — not so rare in a region known as a foodie capital. But she’s interested in how it can serve as a vehicle for cultural exchange. A lot of people’s first exposure to immigrant groups is through their cuisine. From there, they learn about the history, the culture and the conflicts, she says. That's why food is one of several ways Karim, the Neda Nobari Distinguished Chair and director of the San Francisco State University Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, is engaging the campus and greater community about the Iranian diaspora.

The center, funded by a $5 million gift from Iranian-American alumna Neda Nobari and launched last fall, is the first and only one of its kind at an academic institution. A professor of world and comparative literature and the daughter of an Iranian immigrant, Karim says its purpose is to educate people about the Iranian diaspora community and Iranian culture through lectures, film screenings and other cultural events. She’s also in the process of launching a number of projects, including collaborating on a documentary about Iranian immigration to the Bay Area; hosting an international conference; creating an archive of the Iranian diaspora; and yes, researching food and how it plays an ambassadorial role.

Faculty, staff and students in the Museum Studies Program spent a year preparing to move the collections, in consultation with independent conservators and preparators who also worked with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. They checked the condition of all materials. They choreographed every literal step — analyzing possible roadblocks such as weather, foot traffic, narrow doors and corridors and elevator access.